Controversial Priest Removed as Chaplain of San Francisco School

Posted Jun 29, 2015

Rev. Joseph Illo was removed from his post as school chaplain at the Star of the Sea parish by the San Francisco Archdiocese in April, though he will remain as pastor. Parents protested his January decision that girls would no longer be allowed as altar servers in the parish, according to Bay Area CBS News. Illo remarked about altar servers to Religion News Service in May, “I deeply regret the upset this issue has [caused] us all.”

More controversy erupted in February over pamphlets Illo distributed to second through sixth graders with questions about masturba-tion, adultery, fornication and sodomy. SF Gate reported on a 2005 civil case that found Illo inflicted emotional distress on an 11-year-old girl when she came forward about sexual abuse by another priest.

In March, a hundred parents met with repre-sentatives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco to request the removal of Illo, the SF Gate reported.